As a chubby, Mexican girl, I didn’t quite fit the standard I saw on TV or in magazines growing up. I developed an unhealthy relationship with my body image that was only exacerbated with social media and the popularization of plastic surgery. Beauty trends and standards in place often demand women of color to embody… Continue reading Critiquing Plastic Surgery Trends: The Racist and Sexist Implications for Women of Color
Toxic shame, a pervasive sense of unworthiness or defectiveness ingrained in individuals, is explored in the context of societal systems like patriarchy, capitalism, and white supremacy. This shame, unlike healthy shame that responds to social norms or moral standards, becomes debilitating when chronic and pervasive, shaping individuals' identities and self-concepts. In the United States, these… Continue reading From Detoxification to Yasssification: How Addressing Toxic Shame Could Lead to A Tangible Liberatory Praxis
Commodification and Capitalism One of the most grave side effects of RuPaul's Drag Race being such a mainstream form of queer entertainment is how easily it has made it for queer culture to be commodified and cheaply replicated. “Commodification prefabricates culture into easy to consume products and images that allow the dominant culture to utilize… Continue reading The Real Realness: Commodifying Culture from the Ballroom to RuPaul’s Drag Race
The night may feel safe for men, but during the nighttime, walking on the street is unsafe, and it is seen as a death wish for many women, mainly for women who reside in Latin America. Gang crime is extremely active at night, and Latina women are more likely to be punished by men if… Continue reading Femicide in Latin America
While a lot of colonial thinking still permeates within our uses of gossip, there are examples in our modern-day that echo the theoretical practices of queer chisme. Notably, Rina Sawayama’s “This Hell” is not only an empowering song that reclaims the threat religious fanatics spew at queer people, but the song itself is grounded in… Continue reading Gossip/Chisme as a Site of Knowledge and Avenue for Decolonial Realities
Photo by fotografierende Learning about LGBTQ+ topics at school should become more accessible, especially since it helps bridge a better understanding between non-Queer students and Queer students alike. For example, It's Still Elementary is a 2007 documentary that explores the reality of elementary school students being exposed to topics like sexuality and gender at a… Continue reading Bridging Understanding: The Importance of Integrating Sexuality and Gender Education in the Classroom
The reproductive right of abortion has become a debate and topic for many people. The medical procedure to terminate a pregnancy is controlled by the government and its regulation of reproductive rights. Within American society, there is a notion called the separation between the church and state. The idea is rooted in the principle that… Continue reading Abortion & The Failed Separation of Church and State
The overturning of Roe v. Wade has been one of the biggest injustices in women’s reproductive rights to arise from the Supreme Court in recent history. It is clear that this decision violates women’s right to privacy and autonomy, involved a large amount of political and personal bias, and will cause far more suffering than… Continue reading The Greatest Injustice in Reproductive Health of the 21st Century
Sterilization and eugenics have a prominent history in the United States. Through the 1900s, several states petitioned and advocated for the sterilization of “undesirable” populations fueled by discriminatory stereotypes aimed primarily at Latinas. As a result, thousands of Latinas were sterilized across America as a form of eugenics without consent. It has had a lasting… Continue reading Latinas and Eugenic Sterilization
We are exposed to contaminants every day, whether its greenhouse gases, heavy metals, microplastics, etc. These indirectly enter our bodies through the use of everyday items, eating, or even just breathing. While these sources of contamination are hard to control due to their abundance, and sometimes naturally occurring nature, there are some contaminants whose production,… Continue reading Transparency for the Presence of Contaminants in Feminine Hygiene Products
